


Relief

by sternflammenden



Category: Dangerous Liaisons (1988), Les liaisons dangereuses | Dangerous Liaisons - Choderlos de Laclos
Genre: F/M, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-30
Updated: 2012-11-30
Packaged: 2017-11-19 21:14:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/577735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sternflammenden/pseuds/sternflammenden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Exchanging one mask for another is such a relief for Merteuil.</p>
<p>Written for the 7th annual Five Acts kink meme on LiveJournal</p>
            </blockquote>





	Relief

She stares at him across the table during the card game, keeping her features carefully composed, her face always the perfect porcelain mask. It’s been that way since Isabelle first taught herself restraint, a skill born out of the necessity of self-preservation. As he deals the cards, his motions are perfectly measured, a parody almost of what a gentleman might do, just as schooled and artificial as the way that her fingers toy with the stem of her glass, the manner in which she tilts it to tinted lips to imbibe of the champagne that threatens to crack the perfect surface that she dwells beneath. 

Valmont doesn’t return her look; that, of course, would be far too obvious for his subtle ways. He merely makes veiled comments about _the young these days_ , which makes her laugh, for they are closer in age than he’d like to admit, and _what liberties they take_ , remarks that in their jagged sarcastic tone make the rest of their party laugh at the irony of this notorious rake and the pleasant hypocrisy of his conversation. 

It amuses her, these evenings after supper. It’s good practice in keeping up appearances, in reveling in pretenses. 

For after the guests have departed in a flurry of lace and ribbons and insinuating glances, they go into the bedroom and exchange one mask for another, and the game is exchanged for one with higher stakes. 

She smiles as she beholds the reddened lines on his back, recalling how she’d wounded him so well, and although he had not reacted in the way that she would have liked, the pained expression in his normally sharp eyes was reward enough for such an indulgence. It has been the thought of these marks scraping against linen and velvet that has kept the pleasant smile on her countenance despite the tiresome business of entertaining, the weight of courtesy, and the burden of society. And tonight, she will continue this exercise. What a relief it will be.


End file.
